The pros and cons of the 2003 Iraq War for the United States

The pros and cons of the 2003 Iraq War for the United States

There has been so much controversy over the Iraq war. One can even say that even Presidents have been sacked over the inefficiency in dealing with the scenario. With a lot of false information spreading, we have decided to write an excerpt on this topic.

Let us set the context first. One can never say that it was 100% right or 100% wrong. There were some elements that were right and some that were wrong. To make a case in extremes is plain folly. I believe that the intention was more or less in the right place, both from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Saddam Hussein was one of the most brutal dictators the world had ever seen. His methods employed led to complete destruction of lives. There was also a threat of spillage, that the civil war within Iraq and radical elements would spill over to the West. Anti-war activists would say that beyond that, oil was a key motivator for the United States to enter the war.

While Saddam was eventually dethroned, it came at a huge cost, as all Americans know. The casualty of the Iraq War was hitherto unheard of, and led to anger and resentment among all Western nations. It also came up that Saddam was never really a threat to the national security of the United States, and that he resented Al Qaeda as much as we did.

Furthermore, the Republicans never seemed to have a clear strategy on how to handle the situation post the dethronement of Saddam. A clear exit strategy is crucial in war to ensure that there is no instability created. Not only was there no exit strategy, but one can almost argue that we left Iraq in a worse shape than before.

There have been, and still are, debates in the United Kingdom as well as to as the pretense of the nation in entering the war. Tony Blair’s political and ministerial demise can be attributed to this. Again, the information about Saddam’s threat to the west was misread.

Think of nations that recovered after major wars, Germany and Japan being prime examples. Unfortunately, Iraq didn’t have the skill or the resources to make such a turnaround. Some even attribute the rise of ISIS to the Iraq war, although such things can never be attributed to one single event.

Ultimately, I would say that only about 10-15% of the execution was handled correctly by George W Bush and the Republicans. They managed to get rid of Saddam, but ended up creating financial and political collateral damages for themselves.